Mid-Flight Chaos: Indian-Origin Man Arrested In US For Choking Co-Passenger | WATCH VIDEO-OxBig News Network

New Delhi: An Indian-origin man has been arrested in the United States for allegedly attacking a fellow passenger during a domestic flight. The incident occurred on June 30 aboard a Frontier Airlines flight traveling from Philadelphia to Miami and was caught on video that has since gone viral.

The video clip shows 21-year-old Ishaan Sharma, a Newark resident, in a physical altercation with another passenger, Keanu Evans, with both men appearing to grab each other by the neck as stunned passengers urge them to stop.

New: Ishaan Sharma, 21, was arrested for allegedly committing an unprovoked assault on a fellow passenger aboard a Frontier flight to Miami.

Sharma faces charges of battery and a $500 bond, per jail records.

The victim reported to police that the attack was unprovoked,… pic.twitter.com/9xwPmKNHaF
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Citing Evans, NDTV reported that the attack was completely unprovoked. He told local station 7News that Sharma had approached him and grabbed him by the throat while returning to his seat.

“He was doing some, like, dark laugh like, ‘Ha ha ha ha ha.’ And he was saying things like, ‘You puny, mortal man, if you challenge me, it will result in your death,” Evans recalled.

Evans, who was seated just one row ahead of Sharma, said he alerted flight attendants after feeling increasingly uncomfortable with Sharma’s behavior. They advised him to press the assistance button if the situation escalated.

“I pushed the button when he kept threatening me with death,” Evans said. He then described the moment the altercation turned physical.

“He’s looking at me very angrily, and we’re looking eye to eye, forehead to forehead, and then he just grabs me by the throat and just starts choking me. At that moment, it was, you know, fight or flight responses that kicked in. I’m in a tight, confined space on an aircraft, and all I can do is just defend myself,” he told 7News, NDTV reported.

Upon landing in Miami, Sharma was taken into custody and has since been charged with battery, according to authorities.

During a court hearing on Tuesday, Sharma’s lawyer offered a different version of events, claiming that the altercation began as a misunderstanding over religious practice.

“My client is from a religion where he was meditating. Unfortunately, the passenger behind him did not like that,” the attorney reportedly said.

The investigation is ongoing, and no further statements have been released by Frontier Airlines as of now.